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znorgaard 's review for:
The Buried Giant
by Kazuo Ishiguro
I really enjoyed this book, but there's something holding it back which I'm having a hard time putting my finger on. The characters are complex, fully realized individuals even though they start out as one dimensional fantasy tropes. The plot follows this formula as well, starting predictably, but ending more surprisingly. Ishiguro takes the expected and manipulates it into something new. The language and prose used fit the theme well, but lacks the elegance seen in The Remains of the Day. There are a few moments where Ishiguro's knack for dry humor slip in, but they're few and far between. There are also a few side stories that seem shoehorned in and underdeveloped. It could be intentional but in the end I was left wondering, "What was the point?". Maybe that was the point, there are some things in life that don't matter even when we think they do. I'm sure this novel is full of symbolism and allegory, much of which went well over my head. The land this is set in is shrouded in a mist of memory loss. Our main characters spend time with returning memories and their present predicaments. Unlike many, Ishiguro does an outstanding job maintaining pace and interest across time jumps. The memories reveal more information about the present and because they are newly remembered, they immediately impact character actions instead of explaining what they did 100 pages ago. Again, there's a lot to like about this book, but the pieces don't come together quite as well as I would like and it's missing much of the dry humor I loved in The Remains of the Day.